Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU: Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center Grant for Amphibian Research

Data have been collected on the Great Divide transect since the inception of ARMI in 2000, through partnerships and funding from USGS, NPS, and Idaho State University, making this the best studied suite of mid-level monitoring sites in ARMI. Results to date reveal a gradient in occupancy by amphibians along the Continental Divided. Occupancy is extremely low in Rocky Mountain National Park compared to the more northern parks, indicating that declines are not limited to the crash in boreal toad (Bufo boreas) populations caused by pathogenic chytrid fungus. Other surveys by Rocky Mountain ARMI in 2003-2004 established that this pathogen is common throughout the transect. Although the outlook is not certain, the potential exists for serious declines in amphibians in the Yellowstone ecosystem and Glacier National Park. Data collected to date by ARMI are critical to evaluating the immediacy of this threat.

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